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The ‘filter’ system in FML (and indeed the last few iterations of it’s older brother Football Manager) is an aspect of the game that is hugely powerful yet underrated at the same time. Filters can narrow down pretty much every aspect of a player/club/manager search you could think of, and it’s frequently expanded. But, how many of you would think of the filters and say they are one of the most important aspects of the game? The intention of this article is for you to understand the full possibilities of this feature and hopefully get the most out of it.

Common Search Filters

If you can use the filters well, you immediately have an advantage in the transfer market. Some of the filters available will allow you to seamlessly look for potential signings for your squad. Before looking for any player that is contracted, it’s always a good idea to look at ‘free agents.’ This can be easily done in two ways. Firstly, if you click on the ‘Filter’ button towards the top-left of the screen on All Players and then select ‘Customise’, a pop-up will appear. This gives you different options to filter by and pretty much limitless combinations to use. For free agents, go to Contract – Contract Status – Free Agent. Alternatively, as of 1.2 you can simply click ‘Filter’ then ‘Free Agents & Trials.’ This way, trialists are added to your search.

Another useful one, especially at the end of the season, is to look out for players whose contracts are expiring and about to go into a wage auction. Again, you would go to ‘Filters’ and then ‘Customise’ but then add the filter Contract – Contract Expires and then just set it to the time limit of your choice. For managers who log in daily, I would recommend setting it to 24 hours. This allows you to easily access wage auctions on all players who are coming up to the end of their current contract.

An addition to filters brought in during 1.2 is the ability to immediately search for players using player roles (as shown below).

As you can see, a search filter can be set for every single player role possible, for maximum compatibility with your new tactics. Also, note the amount of rules that I have in that screenshot. This can save you time selecting them separately and allows you to easily combine different rules to narrow down your search.

Combining Search Rules

As you play around with all the different options in filtering, you will pick up your own patterns and routines when looking for players. For example, you can set the filter to only come up with players who are below 21, have no club and have at least 4* potential (providing you have Judging Potential, of course).

The options are pretty much limitless and there is always a way to find the perfect player for your club as long as you’re willing to put the effort in. I don’t want to do all the legwork, so I’ve only mentioned a handful of the ways filters can be used but there’s no denying their usefulness. Hopefully, you can hone your skills to get the most out of this part of the game.

Written By Tom HalesTom is a long-term FML player with an interest in scouting and finding great talent. You can follow the fortunes of his team at armchairamateurs.com, his FML side's official blog.

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